


Under the Aurora

by Puddle_of_genderfluid



Category: Frozen (Disney Movies)
Genre: A little angst, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/F, Fluff, Shapeshifting, as a treat, bear!elsa, fox!elsa, scientist!anna
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-08
Updated: 2020-02-13
Packaged: 2021-02-27 19:01:01
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,939
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22620661
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Puddle_of_genderfluid/pseuds/Puddle_of_genderfluid
Summary: When Anna heads to the Arendelle Arctic Research Station to pursue her dream of being a climate scientist, she finds a lot more than data on the frozen tundra.
Relationships: Anna & Elsa (Disney), Anna/Elsa (Disney)
Comments: 9
Kudos: 82





	1. Into the Unknown

By the time the bell rang, Anna was sure she never wanted to hear another word about core ice samples ever again. _Probably not the best thought for someone studying to be a climate scientist,_ she admonished herself, _but Dr. Weselton could make gladiatorial combat sound dull._ The bright side was that she was almost done with the semester, and _next_ semester would be spent learning in a far more exciting place than the drab laboratories of the university. She set about collecting her books to meet Kristoff for lunch and a broad smile grew between the redhead’s constellations of freckles as her thoughts turned once again to her upcoming trip. _I get to actually go study the Arctic IN THE ARCTIC!_ She was still having a hard time believing it, brushing her hand up against the acceptance letter she had taken to carrying around with her like a talisman. This had been her dream for so long that Anna felt as though without the physical, tangible proof of its existence the trip would fade away, like the gossamer strands of a dream slipping through your fingers as you wake.   
“Earth to Anna. Do you read me?” A teasing voice broke her reverie and she looked up to see the blonde, slightly disheveled form of Kristoff, her best friend. “Hello?” He playfully knocked on her head. “Anybody home?”

Anna swatted his hand away and quickly gathered her thoughts. “You aren’t even in this class- oh no the bell rang! I forgot!” She hastily finished gathering her notebooks and got up. “Sorry Kristoff, I was just thinking about-”

“-the trip to Arendelle, I know,” he finished for her. “The same thing you’ve been thinking about all month. You know, if you space out like that on the tundra you’re just asking to get eaten by a penguin.”

“Penguins live in the south pole, dummy,” she shot back. The two continued to bicker affectionately as they walked to lunch. They were sitting at a table in the mess hall and halfway through their sandwiches before Kristoff had his comeback ready.

“Poluf beag.”

“I beg your pardon?”

He swallowed and repeated himself, this time less impeded by a mouthful of sandwich. “Polar bear.”

“Big, fuzzy, adorable, can kill me,” Anna recited. “What about them?”

“Space out like that and a polar bear will get ya. If the penguins don’t, that is.” 

“I told you Kristoff, there aren’t any penguins within a thousand miles of the station.”

“That’s just what the Secret Penguins _want_ you to think!” he finished with a flourish.

Anna just rolled her eyes. “Besides, I’m sure I’ll be cooped up in the station entering data and doing all the boring stuff. They probably won’t let me do any field work.” 

Kristoff frowned. “Oh come on, you live for field work. I’m sure they’ll let you do _something_. I mean it’s a research internship, and a whole semester. If they kept you locked up that long you’d probably end up talking to the pictures on the wall!” 

“At least they would smell better than you,” Anna retorted, but secretly she agreed with Kristoff. She would go insane with boredom if she didn’t get to actually _do_ something with her time up there. While she knew much of the research at the station would be focused on measuring and gathering data, she had chosen to become a scientist because she wanted to learn to _help_ the environment and the wild places she loved so much, not to just observe as ecosystems collapsed around her. She touched the acceptance letter again, almost unconsciously. _I’ll find a way to make a difference._

* * *

The Arendelle Arctic Research Station was a small complex. A dormitory building for the researchers, two laboratory buildings, and a small airstrip huddled together for warmth amid the endless expanse of snow and sky. A small plane brought Anna from the nearest settlement, itself a tiny outpost on the edge of civilization, to her destination off the edge entirely. From the window of the noisy airplane the tundra seemed severe and foreboding to Anna, but once she stood on the ground she knew she was just where she belonged. Mountains rose out of the rugged landscape, reflecting the million shades of blue in the sky and ice and snow. It was truly the most beautiful sight she had ever seen. Unbridled nature marred only by the station’s squat buildings, and now by the impatient-looking man striding up to where she stood by the airstrip. The man was tall, with light brown hair and ludacris mutton chops. He wore a standard polar jacket over a lab coat, both cleaner than Anna thought any scientist’s clothes should be. 

“You must be Anna, the new intern. I’m Dr. Sohnlind, the director for the station.” He smiled at her, but to Anna it came off more as a leer. “Let me show you where you’ll be staying.”

About an hour later, Anna sagged into her bunk with a groan. Dr. Sohnlind had introduced her to the other scientists staying on the station. There were only six of them but she had already forgotten all of their names. She had tried to ask more about her duties and what she would be researching, but the director hadn’t seemed to understand, only talking about how she would be expected to keep the station tidy. _I hope I make some friends or this will be a long four months._

* * *

One week later, Anna was fuming as she tidied up yet another laboratory. _I could have just gotten a job as a maid, do the same work, AND be paid more for it._ Dr. Sohnlind had her doing endless data entry and cleaning up after the others. He would “teach” while she worked, but instead of answering her questions he would simply repeatedly explain simple topics she had learned her freshman year. Seething with frustration, she didn’t notice how aggressive her dusting had become until she bumped into a computer monitor. _Why do I have to be so clumsy when I think?_ Looking over the screen to make sure she didn’t mess anything up, she realized she recognized what was displayed. This was a map of the sea ice in the surrounding area, monitored in real time by a network of remote sensors. Looking around to make sure there wasn’t anyone to see her stop cleaning in favor of Sciencing, Anna stepped closer. The patterns of ice melting, translated into colors on a map, painted a beautiful picture in the moment even as they painted a grim one for the Earth. Suddenly, a bloom of blue amongst the encroaching red caught her eye. She knew sometimes weather patterns could rapidly refreeze an area, but this didn’t look like anything she had ever seen in a book or powerpoint. As she watched it happened again, in the same area. The growing patterns of ice looked almost like blooming snowflakes, but to show up on this scale they would have to be hundreds of meters across. A tight ball of excitement filled Anna’s chest as she watched something that she absolutely couldn’t explain. Her thoughts immediately filled with visions of groundbreaking discoveries and Nobel prizes with Dr. Sohnlind sobbing over not seeing her potential. _This’ll show that jerk director,_ she thought triumphantly. _I’m good for more than just scut work._ The rest of her time at the station suddenly seemed much brighter. _After all_ , she reasoned, _maybe that was the point of Dr. Sohnlind’s dismissiveness._ She just had to prove her worth, it was some weird science hazing or something. She quickly squared her shoulders and marched off to find the director. 

Luckily it turned out finding someone is pretty easy when there are only three places to be. He was sitting with some of the other scientists- _really need to learn their names at some point-_ in the small cafeteria. Her discovery poured out in usual Anna fashion, interspersed with no small amount of rambling, and almost right away Dr. Sohnlind held up a hand to silence her. It seemed to Anna like a mortal age before he responded.

“So what you’re telling me is that you haven’t finished cleaning up yet.” There was a small smile on his face. It didn’t reach his eyes.

“What?” Anna was confused. Did he not believe her?

“Maybe next time you should finish your job and not play scientist. We do serious work here, work that shouldn’t be interrupted by someone who doesn’t know what she’s talking about.” His smile grew more mocking. “But since you apparently want to _learn_ , why don’t you start by learning that ice doesn’t just melt around here. Sometimes-” he added, voice dripping with condescension- “It also _grows_.”

“I _know_ that, but the pattern-” she began, trying to keep her voice even.

“-is something best left up to the scientists. You’re the intern, so stick to your tasks and don’t worry about the rest,” he interrupted, and looked her up and down. “And try smiling, you’d be a lot nicer to look at.”

“Dr. Sohnlind-” Anna gritted her teeth. This was the guy she was supposed to be learning from?

“-Please, call me Hans.” 

* * *

_Okay, so I’ve never been known for thinking things through, but this is a new one even for me,_ Anna thought to herself as she sped across the tundra. Too furious to think straight, she had stormed out of the dormitory building, intent on… something. She hadn’t quite worked out what she was going to do, but she knew it would be drastic. As she walked across the compound, the snowmobile caught her eye and next thing she knew she had printed off a map to the anomalies she had seen and was racing into the Arctic wilderness. 

Now twilight was approaching and she was starting to realize she hadn’t told anyone where she was going, and that made what she was doing was reckless at best. If something happened- but she cut that thought off. She had set out to prove her hunch, and there was no way she was going back empty-handed. Setting her doubts firmly aside, Anna couldn’t help but to marvel at the scenery unfolding as she rode deeper into the tundra. Huge expanses of ground, broken into whirling patterns of dark earth and stark snow by the uneven terrain. Mountains rose on the horizon around her impossibly high, scraping the sky with jagged white spines.

As she neared her destination a hush permeated the scene. In the growing quiet the raucous roar of the snowmobile seemed to grow into an unbearable cacophony until the engine sputtered out and died without any warning whatsoever. The sudden deceleration pitched Anna off the machine and she tumbled into a mercifully soft snowbank. Stunned, she slowly picked herself up and, finding no injuries, checked the snowmobile. It certainly had fuel, but the battery was completely dead. Strange, because one of her chores over the week had been changing out the battery and she knew this one was almost brand new. Still, there was nothing to be done; it certainly wasn’t going to start. All common sense demanded she turn back and immediately try and make it back to the station, but common sense hadn’t gotten her this far and she certainly wasn’t going to start heeding its voice now. Besides, she was less than a kilometer from the source of the strange ice patterns she had seen and she couldn’t _not_ find out what had made them. She could almost hear Kristoff telling her ‘curiosity killed the cat,’ but hey, satisfaction brought it back. Anna set off on the final leg of her search, walking briskly to stay warm. 

She wasn’t sure what she was expecting, but she couldn’t have prepared herself for the sight that unfolded before her. Where once the ice had been melting and breaking up now was a huge, solid sheet. It was ice, but it didn’t look anything like the rest of the Arctic. It was perfectly clear, light blue, with a giant snowflake pattern across the whole thing. The pure impossibility of it took Anna’s breath away. It was like magic. 

As she walked across the marvel of frozen water, she spotted on the far edge a sudden flurry of light and color, and there was… _another ice sheet?_ Anna thought incredulously. _That wasn’t there a second ago._ It was inconceivable, and yet it was in front of her. There seemed to be a bit of movement where she had seen the light, but it wasn’t until she was barely a dozen meters away until she saw, and froze in the deepening twilight. 

A polar bear. Huge, silent, and almost invisible in the dim light. Its dense fur was pure white; blindingly blue eyes gazed calmly at Anna. 

  
  
  
  



	2. Bear meets Girl

Anna held as still as she could, numbly trying to think of what facts she knew about polar bears.  _ Big, fuzzy, adorable, can kill me. ‘ _ Big’ did  _ not _ do the creature before her justice. It was  _ huge. _ Some detached part of her mind noted that this bear was indeed quite fuzzy, its platinum fur an impenetrable barrier against the knifelike arctic wind. The bear still hadn’t moved, merely regarding her with azure eyes that seemed to glow as they met hers. Anna was pretty sure polar bears were supposed to have black eyes, but at the moment she was preoccupied with the final factoid: this creature could kill her with one swipe of its huge paws. 

After the longest moment of Anna’s life, the bear still hadn’t turned its gaze from her teal eyes. It cocked its head slightly to the side, seeming to study her curiously. Her heart was still hammering in her chest, and for a moment Anna wondered if the bear could somehow hear it. It looked far more calm than she felt, and for a moment Anna had the wild impulse to reach out and stroke the bear’s fur. It looked impossibly soft. But that would be insane, she needed to somehow get away. No, that wasn't right. She racked her brain trying to recall what she was supposed to do now. After Kristoff's teasing she had idly googled 'what to do if polar bear?,' but all she could remember was the first tip on the site: 'good luck.' She did remember that running was bad and fighting was pointless, so that left intimidation. Summoning all her courage and confidence, she straightened up, squared her shoulders, puffed out her chest, and gave the beast a piece of her mind.

"Now don't you bother trying to eat me! I'll have you know I ate  _ ten _ bears for breakfast just this morning!" Anna did her best to keep the quaver out of her voice, to limited success. "Besides, I'd taste terrible," she hastily amended.

The bear didn't seem terribly intimidated. Almost bemused? Or was she imagining things? Her confidence waning, she did the thing that came most naturally: ramble. 

“Not that I’m dirty or anything, though the showers do suck at the station, but I guess you eat seals that don’t shower… but they do swim around all the time so I guess they’re always bathing? But the point is that I have lots of clothes on and those wouldn’t taste good! So just turn around and go find a nice seal or something. Please? I mean I would leave, but I kind of think you’ll eat me if  _ I _ move, so maybe  _ you _ should move. I mean I need to figure out what made this ice… it’s so beautiful! Not that you aren’t beautifuller, I mean not fuller, I mean you  _ are _ pretty huge…” Anna trailed off as a strange sound came from the creature of winter before her. It wasn’t growling… it almost sounded like a chuckle, but she was  _ pretty _ sure bears didn’t chuckle. Or have a sense of humor. Or understand English. Then again, she was just as sure that they didn’t act so calm around humans or have gorgeous blue eyes, more vivid even than the ice she was standing on. 

All this time the bear still hadn’t moved, and one of them had to; she couldn’t exactly chat to it all night. With a slight gulp Anna took a small step in what she hoped was the direction she came from, keeping her eyes on those powerful paws. The bear’s eyes widened and it quietly growled in warning as she moved away from it. Startled, Anna took several quick steps, still watching the strange beast. Unfortunately, that prevented her from seeing the hole in the ice until she was already falling in. The frigid arctic waters engulfed her with a shock like thunder, and her body was immediately overcome with a soporific numbness. The last things Anna saw before she blacked out were two beautiful, blue eyes. 

* * *

Even in unconsciousness, Anna swam. Struggling through the inky water of dreaming, she slowly became aware of warmth, a flickering orange light dancing across her eyelids, and a sonorous voice speaking in a strange, guttural language. She had a dim memory of blue ice, white fur, and deep eyes staring into her own, but she was warm and the scratchy wool blanket of her cot at the station was for once incredibly soft and cozy. She dismissed the strange dream she had of a bear and sank back into the depths of sleep.

* * *

Some time later, Anna began to wake more fully. The first thing she noticed was that she was  _ not _ in her cot at Arendelle station, but rather in a strange sort of cave, burrowed into a huge fur comforter. There wasn’t a visible source, but dim blue light seemed to permeate the chamber she was in, which though large, seemed at first to be made entirely of glass. Then, reaching to wrap the comforter around herself, Anna felt her hand meet warm, silky fur and the ‘dream’ rushed back to her.  _ Not a dream. Wait. OH MY GOD IT’S THE BEAR.  _ Anna stiffened, and felt her bedfellow stir in response. Forcing herself to relax and stay still, she decided to focus on the situation as a scientist.  _ Calmly make observations, formulate hypotheses, and then test them. Come on Anna, you can do this! No wait don’t get pumped up, I’m a scientist calmly making observations.  _ She was in some sort of cave, about the size of a large room, but the rough walls seemed to be made of… ice? It  _ was _ ice, and now Anna realized she was probably in some sort of glacial cavern. The bear she had met the previous night had her snugly held against it, with one strong arm draped over her keeping her close and warm.  _ At least I think it was last night. How long did I sleep?  _ The strange blue light emanating from the ice didn’t seem like refracted sunlight, but she supposed it must be. What else could it be? 

The most pressing question was also the most confusing. How was she alive? She had fallen into water that was well below freezing, with no help nearby or any way to warm up. That should have been the end right there. Even setting drowning, hypothermia, and shock aside, she had evidently been fished out by a polar bear. As far as Anna knew, polar bears didn’t bring prey back to their dens, especially live prey. She should be dead  _ twice _ , and yet here she was- dry, warm, and snuggling with a deadly and surprisingly soft predator.  _ The largest land predator _ , Anna recalled. Realizing that trivia wasn’t going to get her out of this surreal predicament, she listened intently to the bear’s breathing. It seemed slow and steady, so the animal was probably still asleep. Anna tried an experimental wiggle, holding her breath as she tried to start scooting out from under the bear’s large paw. It grunted softly, and she had to freeze again. 

_ Fuck. I need some way to keep it asleep… _ Anna had what she was sure was a really, really bad idea. Unfortunately, it was also her best, which is to say only, idea. Slowly reaching up, she petted the soft, creamy pelt. It was like liquid silk running through her fingertips, and as she slowly stroked, the bear seemed to relax and stretched the arm that had been holding Anna. Seizing her chance, she quickly slid out from beside the creature, her heart in her throat. 

It didn’t stir. Her heart was still pounding harder than the time Kristoff dared her to drink 4 red bulls in a row, but at least she was closer to getting out alive. Then she looked down and her heart seemed to leap right out of her. The bear’s eyes were open, and she was quite seen. Everything she had ever learned about the futility of fleeing from a living tank that could sprint 40 km/h flew out of her head. Anna turned and ran.

With each step Anna expected claws in her back, hot breath on her neck, a flash of pain, and then- into the unknown. With each moment such a fate didn’t come her panic only grew. As she spotted light- honest yellow sunlight- up ahead, freezing terror and scalding hope grew to such an unbearable height that for a moment she wished for the end to come, if only for the certainty that the fear would be over. But the end never came, and she burst out of the glacier and onto the glaring snow unscathed. In this mad flight she almost thought she could hear the same voice of her dream, calling her back. Still she flew on adrenaline wings until she came to an abrupt halt as the glacier ran down to the sea. Anna turned around haltingly, dread still pooled in her stomach. Nothing. No pursuing bear, no tracks besides her own. Once again she seemed to have defied what should have been yet another certain death.

After a few tense minutes of scouting, Anna realized the true irony of her ‘luck.’ She was on a small island, trapped with seemingly no one and nothing but the bear she had just ran from. She had no idea where she was.  _ No supplies, no food, no way to stay warm. I might as well have let the bear have its way with me.  _ Anna knew rescue was out of the question. It would take any would-be rescuers far too long to find her, and even if they did, theirs would be a grim mission; they would be carrying her body back, not her. Sinking slowly to her knees, Anna wept at the cruel inevitability of her death, hot tears steaming as they fell into the snow. Eventually her sobs subsided as the cold comfort of finality settled in her bones. She would die. Anna was a brave woman; knowing she would die, she found the fear of death was gone. In its place was a muted regret that her parents and loved ones would be alone, and a strange satisfaction that soon such things would not matter. Still with a detached calm, Anna considered her options. Drowning sounded unpleasant, and for some reason she didn’t like the idea of waiting until the Arctic night leeched the warmth from her body. Feeling almost as though she was floating, Anna started retracing her steps back to the cave. The bear had gone through all the trouble of saving her (as a snack for later, no doubt), and she wanted to see those beautiful blue eyes one last time. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Poor Anna, thinking all is lost :( sorry about the angst
> 
> Thank you to Fruipit, R9k ForeverSven, and my wonderful girlfriend for proofreading, and many thanks to everyone who read, commented, or otherwise enjoyed the first chapter <3
> 
> I'm in the midst of moving, but I will do my best to get chapter 3 to y'all before too long! This one will have some answers in it :3

**Author's Note:**

> A million thanks to the brave souls who read my first draft. Your sacrifice will not be forgotten.


End file.
